Top 5 Mistakes Nature Photographers Make + How To Fix

As nature photographers we make mistakes out in the field all the time. After more than 16 years teaching out in the field I expose the top 5 mistakes nature photographers make and how to fix them.

Do you have other "mistakes" that you think happen more often than the 5 I listed? If so let me know in the comments below.

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[courtna]

Great reminders of things to think about. I have never tried focus stacking and would love to see a tutorial on how to do it properly.

[farglemeister]

Loving the new videos! I would love to see a practical ‘in the field’ video on the different Sony autofocus modes. As someone who used to strictly use manual for landscapes, I struggle choosing which auto focus mode is best for different situations. Thank you and congrats on the new videos.

[Tinfoilnation]

At 9:37 -- how to do a semi-lossless crop to level an image. 1) Increase canvas size 2x. 2) Select the new background area with the Magic Eraser and make it transparent. 3) Crop tool to level the new, much larger image - the only pixels you lose now are transparent background anyway. 4) Crop the image (original ratio) to leave as little transparent edges as possible. 5) Select each of the 4 edges of your image and do Content-Aware Fill on each of them. Tweak as needed. Proof of Concept: imgur.com/a/2bqhsLf

[jenniferselbrede]

Great video tutorial, Juan. I know which ones I'm guilty of!

[wrmarhoffer]

Hola Juan, You've addressed very relevant problems and solutions here. Thank you. Yes, please produce a video tutorial on focus stacking. I assume that when focus stacking all camera settings (except the focus point) must be locked manually (exposure and white balance)? Regarding your Mistakes #1 and 5, I think an argument can be made for surveying a location to select a prime vantage point and then waiting (being patient) for the light to change. I've done this two mornings in a row at Reflection Lakes in Mt. Rainier National Park -- picking a spot during blue hour and maintaining my chosen composition as the morning light level and clouds above the mountain top change with time. I did the same recently with sea stacks off the coast of Guam as sunset and evening blue hour approached. Not to denigrate the recommendation to move around and try different vantage points and compositions, but sometimes there may be value in staying put as the scene (or light) changes in front of you.